Sprout Magazine

Satellite Predators: My “Sirius XM Sucks” Experience

I have enjoyed satellite radio for the last three and a half years. There’s nothing quite like genre-sorted, slightly random playlists of singles peppered with a few b-sides.

But here’s the truth: Sirius XM sucks.

You bet Top 40 radio is unlistenable! Who wants to listen to advertisements for music sandwiched between advertisements for products when there are so many other options?

Pandora, iTunes, Spotify, Grooveshark, Turntable.fm… they’re all great on a desktop, workable on mobile, but get most into a car and you’re a slave to cell signal strength.

It’s crazy that a world of digital music still can’t compete with satellite radio for convenience in the car. And it’s all because they followed the business model of the 8-track cassette — build the damn thing directly into the dashboard of every American-made car.

Sirius XM has a market monopoly on delivering music via satellite. I’ll admit it, I hated them even before using the service, and I ended up a customer anyway.

The merger was a profitable move for both companies. Without the government’s blessing on its monopoly, satellite radio might have gone the way of the 8-track. But the industry elite had deemed satellite radio too big to fail.

The merger was not good for artists or fans, but who cares about them, right?

No, this blog post is not about the obvious ethical bankruptcy of the FCC or of large media conglomerates like Sirius XM. It’s about my personal experience with their predatory billing practices, poor promotional ploys and abysmal customer service that led me to cancel my subscription today.

I ended up with satellite radio as most people do — with a free 6 month trial in a new car. When the six months was up, I was offered a great introductory deal. I forget exactly what the rate was, but it was far less than the $18.99/month default payment plan ($227.88 when billed monthly for a year). I made sure that I was purchasing a single year of service, and made sure Sirius XM knew they did not have my authorization to charge my card after my year was up.

$227.88 per year is waaaaaaay too much for satellite radio. And this is the low end of the cost — if you don’t own the hardware or want to access your Sirius XM online, it’s going to cost you extra. If the FCC’s intent was to ignore the issues of customer price fixing and price gouging in order to maintain satellite radio’s profitability, they did a great job.

But nobody pays $227.88 for their first year of Sirius XM. They sign on for 30%, 40%, 50% off or more. And like any bait-and-switch introductory rate, the fine print says that unless you call to cancel your subscription, you will automatically be billed the full $18.99/month in perpetuity.

After my initial free six months and toward the end of my killer one-year deal, I started getting the expected renewal offers in the mail. There seemed to be a new one every two weeks — even before I could consider the 50% off, they were throwing 60% off at me. 70% off. Finally, I got an offer to get 6 months for $25. The regular price for 6 months of service is $113.94. I took it.

Only now, they wouldn’t accept my terms not to auto-bill my credit card. After much insisting, they finally told me that there was no way to have a subscription without it being automatically renewed and billed. I could pay by check, but the service would auto-renew and a new check would be due unless I called to cancel.

So, like your typical idiot consumer, I made a mental note to cancel my account right before the “six months for $25” deal expired, and I forgot. I spent a year paying the $18.99/month like a chump. Had I only taken 20 minutes out of my day to call Sirius XM and threaten to cancel my account, I could have been paying $4.17/mo. instead of $18.99/mo.

Folks, if you like Sirius XM radio and you’re not paying $4.17/mo., put that 20 minute cancellation call on your calendar right now. You can thank me later for saving you a few hundred bucks a year.

I’m not ashamed to admit I probably would have gone on paying $18.99/mo. like a chump had my debit card not fortuitously expired. This required Sirius XM to call be to update my billing information, and that’s when they began to really lose me.

The customer service nightmare began, as it often does, with an underpaid customer service representative in a foreign country where labor is cheaper.

“If I could not stop auto-renewal,” I told them, “I would like to cancel my account.” That’s when the barrage of offers started coming. 60% off, 70% off, all the way back down to six months for $25.

I insisted that unless there was a better offer, I would like to cancel my account and see if I can get a better offer after canceling.

The rep then asked if I would like to finish out my current plan. I said sure, seeing as there were only a few months left and assuming I had already been billed the annual fee. What I didn’t realize was that I was still being billed monthly, this monthly billing was part of a year-long block of billing time. So with a few confusing words, the rep convinced me of finishing out the year with Sirius XM (my “current plan”) and then having my service cancelled. I settled last month’s fee, agreed to pay out the remaining four months of my plan, and then my account would be cancelled.

It occurred to me that I had just accomplished what I was told was impossible — to continue to get Sirius XM service without my subscription being auto-renewed! Success!

Then I got a call on Friday that would be the beginning of the end.

You know it’s one of those calls when you get the awkward 2-second pause between saying “Hello” and hearing the rep saying his or her call script. When I heard the rep was from Sirius XM I couldn’t believe it. Here I had already cancelled my service, and they were calling me to renew. I didn’t mind that I had already received a couple of letters in the mail from Sirius XM offering me the $25 for 6 months deal. But calling me on the phone, direct telemarketing, was just over the top.

I told the rep that it wasn’t a good time and to call back later, but I had my mind made up. Finishing out my plan was not worth it if I was going to be harassed by customer service. I would answer their call and cancel.

They called once in the morning and once at night for four straight days. I admit, I didn’t pick up because I wanted to see how long they’d go for. Finally, this morning, I picked up and got yet another surprise.

Even though I had updated my billing information the previous month, Sirius XM was calling me to update my billing info because the card they had on file was expired. This despite taking and successfully processing new billing info last month. And what happened to the “plan” that I was finishing up? If I was being billed monthly, what the hell was the “plan” the last rep was referring to in any case?

At this point I couldn’t tell the difference between their mistakes and their scams. All I knew was that I wanted out. I updated my billing info (for the second time) and was transferred once again to the cancellation department.

I understand the game. When you call to cancel your service contract, you run the gauntlet of incredible deals meant to coerce you into doing anything but cancel. It starts with the magic question: “May I ask why you are canceling?” From there, your conversation branches off in one of two directions. Say you can’t afford it and they will offer you discounts until you can (at least for the next six months, after which you’ll be auto-renewed at the unaffordable rate). Say you have a problem and they’ll throw the same deals at you, and maybe add on a month or two of free service for your grievances.

I explained that my problem was that I found it unethical that Sirius XM was bait-and-switching its customers, auto-renewing subscriptions for premium fees after getting cards on file at introductory rates. I thought they were being predatory by not clearly disclosing that their business model was to sign you up for $4.17/mo. and then begin billing you $18.99/mo. six months later with no notification. I told the rep that I understand the need for promotional deals, but the sheer number of different proposals, and the universal nature of their deceit, had finally gotten to me. Finally, I told the rep that I knew Sirius XM didn’t care and probably wouldn’t listen to my concerns but maybe, just maybe, she could talk to her boss and relay my concern that Sirius XM’s predatory billing practices are unsustainable.

In most situations, there is nothing you can do to change a corporation other than to not patronize it. Luckily, I can do something more than just cancel my support for the satellite radio monopoly. This blog gives me the platform to let others know: Sirius XM needs to change its billing practices, because more customers each day are realizing they’re complicit in unethical business practices. We see the switch behind the bait. We see through the false empathy of the customer service training. We understand your business exists solely to make a profit and has long since parted with any intention of fostering the greater good of musicians and their fans.

Today I cancelled my Sirius XM subscription. I will miss the occasional discovery of a new artist. I will miss the ability to turn on CNN to hear up-to-the-minute descriptions the latest thing to be blown up and/or engulfed in flames. I will miss it on long drives when I most need musical surprises to break up the monotony.

I won’t miss relinquishing control over the terms on which a company takes my money. I won’t miss the incessant attempts to bait-and-switch me back as a customer. I won’t miss feeling complicit in the exploitation of all the artists on the station, whom Sirius XM lobbies against paying. I won’t miss the customer service hold time, or the feeling of having my concerns ignored.

Today, and for as long as people Google “Sirius XM sucks”, this blog will be there to remind the Sirius XM corporation and its employees: The legitimate value of your service is being undermined by the exploitation of your customers and those who made the music that gives your service value. You will profit in the short term, but the business will be unsustainable in the long term. Tomorrow’s headlines are “Sirius XM Goes Way of 8-Track”.

100 Comments

I just signed up for SiriusXM, because Art Bell is returning via their service in a few weeks and I find him amusing late at night. I figured I may find other interesting content on SiriusXM, too.

I’ve only had it for one day, but everything I’ve seen sucks. All of their talk radio is disney, sex, or Patriot Radio (the actual name). Their non-talk stuff is just crappy playlists of… garbage. In this day and age, the only thing I would think would be worth anything to people on the services *IS* talk. After all, if you want MUSIC, you can just plug your music device into your car and travel across the country.

Anyway, I saw their “after 30 day free trial, you must call us to cancel your service, if you do not want to be billed”.

Here’s what I do when I see a service want to do that to me:

I go to my bank’s website. I use their “shopsafe” option. Might be called something else at other banking institutions. I then generate a credit card number with it. This is tied to just one merchant, so can’t be applied anywhere else with the same generated-card info. Then, you give the card an maximum amount of funding and an expiration date.

The best part is that, instead of having to call up their service and deal with their “customer retention” people, when I decide to get rid of their service… all I will have to do is log into my bank account, select this particular generated-card, and click “cancel/remove/disable/whatever”.

Then, SiriusXM (or whoever else I might do this at) can try and charge me all they want “until he calls and cancels the service”.. but they won’t be able to get a dime from a disabled card.

I had SiriusXM for years (owned the orignal Inno), I finally got fed up and dumped it for Spotify.

I was missing a lot of the Sirius XM channels (1st Wave, CoffeeHouse, Shade 45) so I ended up writing an app for Google’s Android platform that re-creates SiriusXM over Spotify. It might sound confusing, but give it a try.

Nice app. I’d give it a shot if I had an Android device or a Spotify account. My primary way of listening to music these days is the Grooveshark mobile site on iOS, or the Turntable.fm app if I don’t feel like curating a playlist. I was never much of radio listener, digital or otherwise. What I liked about SiriusXM is that I could constantly skip between stations — I had 30 channels programmed and would regularly skip through all 30.

I waited 45 minutes to get called back, went through the whole hoops of cancelling then finally got hung up on at the final stage. No cancellation went through. Don’t these idiots realize some of us have more than one radio account and antagonizing current customers like us will get them nowhere? Now I’m going to drop all my radios and write letters to the state attorney general for deceptive practices.

Not terrestrial radio, that’s for sure. Honestly, it’s no one thing. Various streaming apps, CDs, audio books, and driving in silence a little more often. I don’t have a very long commute so it’s not a critical issue for me. The music industry suffers from corporate greed and corruption just like most other industries, that’s all there is to it.

Your experience pales mine. Fearing unwarrented credit card charges, got them to agree to check payment. Upon receipt of invoice I promptly mailed a check for my six month subscription in full. Within days, got a late payment surcharge notice which I stupidly paid. Got another late payment surcharge on the first late payment surcharge also being late. At that point I just ignored all notices. My service was disconnected 2 months into the 6 month plan I had more then paid for.

I’ve called twice to cancel but so far have not been able to complete the process. I’ll give it one more try, but that’s it. In any case, I am not paying them anything, unless they sue me successfully, which I doubt will happen.

WOW I cannot believe that they are still getting away with doing this to people, a few years back I bought myself a stiletto 2 and a one year service contract, the following year I renewed my subscription and then purchased a car radio with a years service for my boyfriend. Once the both subscriptions were done I sold my Stiletto 2 radio and cancelled BOTH mine and my boyfriends subscriptions because it became WAY too expensive. About a week later I received a call from Sirius stating that my credit card had expired and they needed my new credit card # to renew. I explained to them that I had cancelled both our subscriptions because they were too expensive, then the deals starting coming from her mouth, from free radios to almost HALF what they were trying to bill me for, I now had a VERY bad taste in my mouth for this company and no offer would have brought me back to doing business with a company like that again. About another week later… SAME CALL….we need your new credit card # your old one has expired, so explained that I cancelled and went through this last week….she started with her “deals” and I said PLEASE remove me from your calling list have a nice day….a week later YES YOU GUESSED IT!!!! This time I was not so polite and explained that this was harassment and I wanted an email from them STATING THAT YES I CANCELLED MY SERVICE. The girl was apologetic however DID offer me a $40 radio…. I hung up on her. Well a few weeks went by and now I was receiving bills from them, every month I would call tell them the story they would apologize and say they don’t know why their company kept calling and billing me and would fix it for me….. (I’m sure that’s part of their training 101 – act surprised that we are stupid here) Then collection agency letters started coming in and I went crazy on these people….they played the dumb act EVERY single time I called them. I went online and googled billing problems with Sirius and OMG you cannot believe the hundreds of stories I read….By the time I received the umpteenth collection letter I typed out a very long letter outlining everything that happened to me and that I would obtain an lawyer because now this was just harassment…. another collection letter came…. I then wrote a letter to the collection agency that would make a persons eyes bleed after reading it…. I no longer receive calls from Sirius or their collections agency…..bottom line once you sign on to Sirius it’s like having herpes….I would advise anyone that sings on with them (although after reading the hundreds of horror stories much like my own online I don’t know why ANYONE would want to get themselves tangled up in this…. to use a prepaid debit card or gift debit card otherwise…. Pandora is FREE…. Good Luck

What has been bothering me about Sirius XM as of late is when they changed their format on Classic Vinyl and Classic Rewind to very stale top 40. The kind of music that radio stations play on the air waves over and over again. I have noticed that the same top 40 is now starting to creep into “The Loft” and “Spectrum”. I have come to the realization that Sirius XM’s priority is profit with total disregard for good content.

My subscription is about to expire I am will not renew it. If Congress and the FCC had not approved Sirius and XM to merge, customers would not be faced with this dilemma of increasingly poor content. That is why I am now actively petitioning my congressman and senators to write and pass a bill to breakup Sirius XM. I strongly encourage all of you to do the same.

About 5 or 6 years ago I bought a car that had built in Sirius XM radio with the free trial. Having no experience with XM I naturally signed up and used it. After a year or two I decided I didn’t use it and did the nightmarish cancellation battle with them. Try to get as much proof as you can when canceling so at least you can submit a claim to your credit card company in case they try to keep charging you.

At any rate, I bought a new car this year with the same thing, a free 3 month trial of Sirius XM. They literally attempted to call me every single day for about a month trying to get my credit card. They are an aggressive, obnoxous company, IMHO. Needless to say, they aren’t getting my credit card this time.

I have made more than 20 calls to them in the last 6 months over charging me twice for a subscription. They charged my credit card and was supposed to reimburse them. Still haven’t gotten it reimbursed! After a 4 1/2 hour phone call of being transferred to someone new, I’m exhausted. I really hate to give it up but I am gonna have to do something! My nerves are a mess after going over and over the mistake of double billing, and still nothing resolved. Your experience with them is exactly what I have dealt with for 6 months now. It’s a shame there’s not a third party to step in! I have reported fraud to my credit card company but don’t expect any resolution that way either! They know there’s nothing we can do so they are very rude and unhelpful! The worst thing you can do is give them any card information ..

Sirius is a rip-off, Scam whatever you want to call it.
We bought a new car, decided to try Sirius on a long trip.
It worked for a day then quit, I had to call them at least once a day to get it turned back on. It had something to do with the radio number having been activated before (???)
The account was cancelled after the free trial.
Unknown to us there was also an internet radio account activated at the same time. It was not cancelled. Since the Internet radio account was attached to the satellite account they kept charging us $15.50 per month (really 15.50 a month for just internet radio?, . I called to cancel but since I did not know about the internet account and asked to have the account cancelled They just repeated that the account was already cancelled, They did not mention the separate internet account. Since I did not know it existed, I didn’t ask the right questions. So for 5 months we have been paying for the Internet radio service. Finally Today I got someone that told me there were 2 accounts. Finally!!! So I asked for a refund. They checked their records and found that I had not discussed the Internet account in the past, Only the satellite account. so I obviously was lying. But their records DID show when I had called in about the “satellite” account. Finally after asking for a manager, I was offered 2 months refund. Chalk it up to experience I guess..

I am going through the same experience. I’ve made six calls to cancel and they keep playing games. I’ve been paying $44 a month, $528 a year for three radios!!! This is unbelievable, why isn’t the government looking into these tactics? We need to file a class action against this sleazy company!

I know a GREAT Class Action Attorney out of San Deigo, Calif.
This guy normally does Class Actions dealing with Big Auto Companies.
He is very good and loves a challenge. I can contact him if you like just let me know. I was on this site debating if I should sign with Sirius, if I do I will use a prepaid card…Can you use a prepaid card for this? I would love a answer to that question.
Thanks and if you really need a Class Action Attorney let me know.

The service stinks. If you liked terrestrial radio from the ’60s, 70s, 80s, etc., you’ll love sirius XM. The music is just a regurgitation of what the corporate stations used to ruin the medium. They’ve also hired many of the old DJs, to fully destroy their product. They also just offer what is already on AM radio when it comes to talk. Why have Limbaugh and Hannity when they’re on so many broadcast stations? They have cancelled all the alternative news/talk/info programs they once had. Internet radio, now widely available through smart phones, will kill Sirius XM. I’m sure that old crony capitalist, John Malone (who now owns it), will somehow get the government to bail him out.

Now Sirius is flat out lying to get you to reup. I got a mailer saying I get 2 free weeks of listening, just turn on your radio. Well if you have a radio newer than 05 you get free listening not with older models, yet they invited me to listen. I write these kind of mailers for car dealers and know a bit about how to dis-claim an offer, the information to dis-qualify a consumer, yet no where on the mail piece did it say older radios won’t work for free listening. Filed a false advertising complaint with the AG. Now the battle begins to remove my information from thier files.

I ran into a similar problem. I had a radio die last August 2013, so I bought a new one, canceled the old non-working radio, and paid an annual subscription for the new radio.

But they kept charging every month for the dead/canceled radio. It has taken 6 months so far, and I still haven’t gotten them to stop charging me despite having the confirmation # for the canceled service.

I’m not sure what to do. I already contacted the BBB, but all they do is send automated responses. They don’t seem to actually follow up on any complaints. Next step I suppose is the State Attorneys General of NY.

Now, this is for Internet businesses, and technically XM Radio is much more of a broadcaster than a web service, but it’s one of the few complaint forms you can fill out quickly online. I think if enough people use this channel to complain it will be noticed.

My experiences with SXM’s dubious business practices began a year earlier than yours but it was all the same. I was happiest with one radio activated and enjoying the low rates of the initial offer. Then I had to go and start talking to them….

I was happy with the service. I wish I had it again. But I never will. It is a monopoly. The pricing structure is what killed it for me. I wanted it in two cars. No breaks. Two separate accounts. Initially I was told it was because one radio was XM and one was Sirius. Later on, after the gloves were off, they just said, “well, that’s the way it is.” And when I looked in to having it for the house as well? Yikes, who could afford all that for radio! I just got frustrated and pulled the plug.

Of course, as you well know, pulling the plug was not easy to do. I think I wrestled with them for two months to really get the account closed and make sure they were no longer tapping my account.

Great comments and very informative. I thought it was me at fault before reading all comments. I too received a call to tell me my credit card needed a new expiration date so they could renew. I asked the person on the phone how much? And why wasn’t I notified of the renewal. I told her I wanted to stop the service and think. about my options. She said she could transfer me to the cancellation department but first she needed me to pay for two months of service. She said they sent me notice of renewal that I never received. I said I’m not giving them my credit card information until I talk to the cancellation department. She then hung up on me. Since they don’t have valid credit card information I will wait to see how it plays out. Thanks for the info.

I too obtained Sirius with the purchase of a new car in 2010. Got the 6 month free intro promo. The I signed up for an addittional 6 months at a promo rate. Upon expiration of the 2nd 6 month promo my radio stopped getting Sirius and I presumed the service ended as I expressed that I wanted to terminate service upon signing on for the 2nd 6 month promo. However, I continued to be billed at the full rate for the next 2.5 years even though they cut off my service. They refuse to refund me the dues paid amounting to about $450.00. Sirius denies having the ability to verify you are not geting their signal and of course they will not tell me they did indeed cut off my service. yet cintinued to bill me for 2.5 years. Has anyone filed a small claims court action? Has anyone succeeded in getting a refund for service not provided but billed? My credit company is no help.

If a few dozen people are complaining, this problem must spread to thousands if not tens of thousands of customers.

As I live in the state of NY where SiriusXM is headquartered, I have brought this matter to the Attorney General’s attention and his office is investigating. I will be contacting folks on this thread if they can be of help.

I got it back in 2005 in anticipation for Stern. I liked listening to his show, and got pretty hooked – really THE only reason I got it. I cancelled last Novemeber after taking inventory of all the costs. The music was repetitive, and Stern might leave next year anyway.

They proceeded to inundate my phone daily trying to keep me. Nothing is easy with this company – except signing up, of course!

While I thought I’d miss Howard in the AM, I actually don’t care, and happy I’m not contributing to a company that I don’t like.

As you discuss… If we can sort out the digital music and data usage conundrum, that might be a game-changer. We’ll see.

Very interesting discussion. I’ve tried to cancel a radio once before with them. I sold my car with one in it and bought a new one that had it. They took care of getting me set up with the new subscription immediately. Of course, no problems there. I was told that the same person can’t help me disconnect my old radio, that is handled by the cancellation department.

I’m on hold for 30-45 minutes before speaking to someone who is telling me his whole life story. Despite me having a great reason to cancel, he tries to convince me not to! They send me letters afterwards in the mail saying “Please come back!”. Umm……I still own two of your radios and an internet subscription.

Now, I need to cancel another radio I used to listen to at home but it seems likely that I’ll just want to cancel all of them if I go through another 60 minute phone call. Here’s my idea and if anyone has tried this, let me know.

Buy a major credit card gift card and put a balance equal to one month’s subscription (whatever that is for your plan). Change your account to use it on the web site and when it runs out your subscription will be immediately terminated (I hear they waste no time with that). No phone call needed, problem solved. Thoughts?

as I am typing sirius xm has me on hold, I have been talking to customer service for over 45 minutes. I called because I want to set up this new my sirius radio were I can customize my radio. They cannot find my account! I gave them every piece of info I have and they cannot find my account… I have been paying for over 3 years and apparently I don’t exist according to them. Its ridiculous that I am paying for a service that I cannot use. Now she just got back on the phone and said she filed a report to find my account and they will be in contact in the next few days.

Ditto! I am one of the fortunate ones whose credit card expired, so they can’t bill me again. I did enjoy some of the stations, but I don’t enjoy fraud. I’m back to listening to FM radio in the car. Since I have only 3,600 miles on the car (July 15, 2013 – April 21, 2014), that won’t be too much of a sacrifice.

Thank you so much for starting this blog. I had no idea so many people were having the same issues in cancelling their XM/Sirius subscriptions. I had lost access to the email account I used with my subscription. When I finally gained access about three months later, I started finding the messages from my credit card company that XM/Sirius was trying to bill my credit card. Unsuccessfully I might add. I too had assumed that once my year long subscription had ended that it would not renew automatically, nor did I think it was possible for any legitimate company to just take funds without consent. Thankfully I had used a pay as you go type card to pay for my subscription. Unfortunately after six attempts, yes six failed attempts to get funds from my card they began calling me. I will not be paying them another dime nor will I be swayed by their tactics to have me resign. It’s extortion…..

Great blog. My “free membership” trial period is fast approaching. Thanks for supplying me some helpful hints on reducing the cost or walking away. Satellite radio is nice sometimes………buy I certainly will not miss it.

Add me to the disgruntled SiriusXM customers. At some points in time we’ve had 3 radios at one time and getting the lesser rate for several on the account. Then, tried to cancel. Oh boy. I can remember one of them taking over an hour on the phone! Mostly on hold! Now we’re down to one radio that my husband wants in his truck so he won’t be bored at work. The time came close to be billed again and I thought it wouldn’t go through because the card information was not renewed. They still managed to charge my card! If it weren’t for the fact that my husband wants to listen yet I would contest the charge with my card company. They’ve always treated me very well. Not so, SiriusXM. In fact, has anyone else had trouble getting this free listening that’s advertised on TV. They say they’re turning it on for free but this is the third time I’ve tried after hearing an ad on TV and no dice. This time I also received a letter stating that they’re turning on my radio (in the car) beginning today. It wasn’t on yet again so I went online to my account and “chatted” with a representative. First the answer was my radio was probably “too old” to work with this. It’s in a 2012 Dodge. Then the answer was it just isn’t compatible with this offer. Uh, how does that work, or not work in this case????? I wrote back that if it weren’t for my husband wanting to have his one radio yet I’d cancel entirely. And when he does decide to give it up I suppose I will go through the phone hassle again. It’s a nightmare that, once I get out of, I will never, ever get signed into again!

We got this nonsense with the new car. As others have noted, I already pay for TV, Internet, Cell service and have Data plan on the phone. Why would I subscribe to yet another? But since the expiration, the letters and phone calls keep coming. It’s maddening. The letters are couched in weasel worded gibberish and the people that call just sound like greasy scam artists.

My husband called last spring to cancel his SiriusXM because he would not be driving long distance to work anymore so it wasn’t needed.

They tried to sell him a cheaper monthly rate, etc… He told them no because he just wouldn’t.be in the car much to ever listen no matter how cheap.

Luckily our credit card had already expired so they couldn’t automatically renew it anyway and his yearly subscription was due to end in a matter of days when he called.

The interesting thing is that they have never turned it off. We haven’t paid another dime and it has been a year now and every time he gets in the car the SiriusXM works!

And every week we get a new offer in the mail as well as the random notices that it is being turned on for free for a specified time period. We keep thinking maybe this time at the end of the free two weeks they will turn it off but so far they haven’t. I just got another two free weeks notice in the mail the other day; we will see if they turn it off this time.

I agree that it is too expensive and like Cable TV they are dishonest about the true cost when you first sign up and your introductory offer expires.

Everyone should use a onetime card number to pay for it or a card that will expire several months before your subscription ends. I try to do that with any service like this.

Also MC Visa and AmEx will easily stop a subscription for you from their end. No need to fight with the company yourself. Let the CC company fight them.

Good luck to everyone on getting a successful cancellation and perhaps you will luck out and.they will fail to actually turn it off.

Of course let us see if all of those who have been getting it without a subscription will one day be accused by SiriusXM of “stealing service” even after we cancelled.

I believe I have been charged for sometime on Sirius XM on my car radio and recently received a letter telling me I would get Sirius XM free from May 20 till June 2. I called and informed a representative that I do not, do not, want it, free or not. It had been working on my car even before the letter. But why? I told them I didn’t want it. How can I get rid of their service that I don’t want?

I don’t know if this is new or not. Just bought a new (used) car from a dealer. Car came with Sirius. I got a call from Sirius with an initial offer that I declined (they wanted credit card number) They then offered a deal that would extend my sub from the free period which ends 8/8/14 to January 8, 2015 for $28.11 (including tax, etc.) and they would just send a paper bill, no credit card required. Yes, they will automatically renew and I’ll have to cancel (which may be a headache) but they won’t have my CC number. I suppose it could hurt my credit if I don’t pay and forget cancel but it seems a better solution than them having a credit card number. Anyone else get this offer? And, yes, I do agree with those who think the super compressed sound is not that great.

WOW… I have been a subscriber to Sirius on and off for several years. Like some I was given a free subscription with a new car purchase. After the trial ran out I signed on for a 6 6 months billing and paid via snail mail. No problems. Then as careers changed and found myself traveling 2 to 3 weeks in a month I then switched to Sirius on my iPhone, company car did not have satilite option. Again… To few problems to mention. Now fast forward a few years later yet another career change leaving me local, less driving,and manged to change my billing option to monthly and after a fashion I let the subscription run out. Oh yes did I get the calls and letters begging for renewal at deep discounted rates to lure me back in. I ingnored all attempts till finally they stopped. Now I found myself travelling again and signed up. The renewal went well, about 20 minutes and I was talked into automatic billing. After much insistance on my behalf I was assured this is the only way billing to accounts is made I aagreed. After reading all those whom submitted comments I’m pretty sure I made a costly and unwise choice. I hope if and when the time comes I cancel it seems there’s going to be some issue. Good luck to all fighting the good fight.

I saw the TV ad where a character claims to turn on all inactive radios until June 1st. OK, so I turned on the XM Radio in my car and found the sound so unbearable on every single station (they allowed my to reach) that I it was a pleasure to listen to the commercials on FM again! My car has a sound system that was praised by some in the car press (at the time) as being one of the best they ever heard, so I doubt it was the quality of the system I was hearing. The compressed “digital” sound was just far too unnatural, and the selection of the free trial was poor. When I first turned the XM Radio on it touted comedy stations (among others that I really needed to try) and even gave the station numbers, but I could not access ANY comedy nor ANY of the station numbers the preview station asked me to base a purchase decision on! I was allowed to listen to a small portion of the SiriusXM universe and expected to like what I received enough to buy it. Again, the sound was unlike anything I remember short of the early days of “internet radio” over dial-up when the sound was as compressed as possible to get it to me to listen, and I was so pleased that it existed that I really didn’t care at the time. Today I DO care because I can stream (mostly) acceptable-quality music over my smartphone, and in the rare occasion that I’m out of range (or minutes) I can play my thousands of downloads, all of which sound better than the SiriusXM service provides. So, I wondered if I was being unfair and if the company was really interested in providing a quality product or just in selling what they have to as many people as possible? I mean, why have a free trial period and ask people to buy based on what I had heard? To be fair I attempted to contact SiriusXM via their website chat since the calling procedure takes so long and doesn’t allow me control of the conversation. I asked a simple question: “Does the quality and selection of your current free nationwide trial offer a fair representation of the sound and selection I would receive on my car radio if I paid for service?” I could not get an answer without first giving them my radio ID and my car VIN. I asked again but unless I gave them enough information to fully identify myself and my vehicle for life I was refused an answer so I ended the chat. I decided SiriusXM only exists to sell to as many people as possible the same quality of service available via satellite a decade ago. They are unlikely to improve as long as enough people are paying even $4 a month (or perhaps up to $19 a month) for the crap I was given the opportunity to experience yesterday and again this morning. Until the company is purchased by someone who is interested in improving the sound my satellite radio won’t be turned on ever again.

I’m due for renewal. IF they don’t let me renew by check and insist on credit card, I will be forced to call my credit card company and contact my credit bureau to BLOCK any continuous continuous fees from SIRIUSXM. That outta do it.

My complaint with Sirius/XM isn’t a money or a customer service issue, it’s a content issue.
I signed up with XM for 2 reasons, FUNGUS 53 and Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan.

I was gobsmacked when FUNGUS was pre-empted for 24/7 AC/DC. WTF??? I sent a pointed letter the head of programming and received a curt reply stating that nobody really listened to FUNGUS, in fact it had one of the lowest listenerships of their stations. I didn’t believe that sh!t for one minute. Then came the merger. *SIGH*

Great, Howard Stern…I gave it a try. If i wanted to listen to a narcissistic crybaby bitching how tough it is to live their privileged life, i’d call my mother. People say he’s a great interviewer! Really?! Howard’s show is about his little penis, poop, and his wife’s animal rescue foundation.

Now the programming went from barely tolerable to almost unlistenable. They stopped the re-runs of Wolfman Jack on the 60’s channel and replaced it with Cousin Brucie. NOPE!

I sent another e-mail to the programming guy. After he adjusted his sh!tty little ponytail on his thinning pate, he responded that i should listen to FACTION because FACTION played all sorts of punk rock there.
*SIGH*

NOPE, we get some guy from Australia who is a former skateboarder/MMA with a (self described) big dick and tattoos and wants to be Howard Stern.
As for Punk Rock, there are a couple of scattered programs (Marky Ramone’s show and Tim Armstrong’s show). The rest of the programming is Punk Lite and Metal with some rap thrown in.

I gave it a long time to recover. I was patient.
Tomorrow i throw in the towel. i’m DONE.

So Sirius xm is supossed to be a no rules , then why did they fire Anthony from opie and Anthony ? Why , because he said something on his own time , o and it about a black person , fuck them , it’s over for me, pandora here I come

Back in 2009 I purchased a new GM car that came with the 4 months of Sirius. Since I was driving 140 miles a day in a rural area along Lake Huron, I figured that XM would be worth the listen. I paid them via a cashier’s cheque because I don’t like to give out CC info to any company. When my subscription was reaching 11 months, I called Sirius and sent them an email cancelling my subscription because they raised the cost to about $21.00 a month, meanwhile I was noticing commercials on some of the stations that did not have commercials previously. Just because I have been burned before, I kept careful notes of when I called them, and saved the email telling them that I was cancelling.
Lo and behold, after my 12 months expired, the XM radio stations were still working. I figured that it was their problem and not mine.
Then the notices began to appear in the mail saying that I owed them for not cancelling. I called the number and told them that I provided adequate notice per the contract, and that I do not owe them anything. They said that they did not have anything on record. I told them that I did, so… sorry about your luck.
Next the collection agency began to send letters in the mail indicating that they were going to hit my credit record…now I got pizzed. I called the collection agency and asked them what right that they had to do this. They said that XM Radio hires them to collect. I asked them what proof did XM show to them that I owed them money. They said that they did not require proof, that they are just hired by them. My response was “So if I call you and tell you that the guy down the street owes me $5,000, you will go after him because I said so, even though the guy owes me nothing?” Just silence on the phone then. I told the collection agency that if I receive one more phone call or letter in the mail, that I was heading to the County Courthouse and suing them in small claims for punitive damages. I made it clear to the woman that this was extortion, and that by using the postal service to extort money out of me that I did not owe, that now her agency commited a felony crime for using the U.S. postal service in commision of extortion. Earlier in one of their return envelopes I sent a copy of the email that I sent XM when I initially cancelled their subscription per the contract agreement.
That was the end of the collection agency. Nothing came from them again.
The next day I called XM and they actually sent me to one of their representatives in the U.S. (no more India), I told them that they have until 3:00 pm to send me an email telling me that they recognize that I do not owe them any money, and if I did not receive that email, that I was heading directly to the Courthouse to file a suit claim against them in small claims court for punitive damages, and that I was done with their BS and that they can pay for a lawyer to show up, or they will get stuck with the damage cost if no one shows up.
The email came from them at 2:30.
Now I have a new Silverado with the free 4 months that is about to expire. I really like the added function of weather radar and instant traffic conditions that appear on the navagation screen, but that signal comes via XM. Now I don’t know if I want to subscribe to it after my past experience and after what the above people went through.
I wonder who the CEO of this company is? Why do they purposely make this so difficult and unfriendly to the customers? They seem to aggresively try to make people hate their product, and are obviously losing a lot of revenue from operating in this fashion.

On the good side. You can get free XM radio with a little bit of know how. It has “been said” that when XM radio offers the free week of radio, or after you cancel your subscription, while the radio is still receiving the XM signal, you can access the fuse for your OnStar/XM Radio inside of your fuse panel. If you modify a fuse to maintain the electrical contact and run wires up to a switch that you affix somewhere near your dash, you can kill the power to the OnStar/XM Radio. The shut off notice from XM to your radio happens when you turn off the ignition. So after your car is started, turn on the switch that is wired to the fuse panel. Free XM. Before your shut your car off, flip the switch to open the circuit to the fuse panel, and the the radio never receives the shut off notice.
At least, that is what I heard…….. 😉

I just discovered when I tried to listen to Channel 75 in my vehicle that it had been deleted from the service. Seeing as it is the only station that I listen too when I am driving, I am going to cancel my service. Wish me luck on that.

I have a larger hard drive in my vehicle radio and have be uploading audio files of my favorite Classical streaming radio station. I have enough space on the hard drive to upload several hundred hours of music and commentary. That should last me quite a while before it all automatically starts from the beginning again

I also have a mobile hotspot so can do LIVE streaming music in my vehicle if I so choose to.

Just canceled. I think. My credit card expired. I like the service, but do not want to do business with a company that abuses consumers like this. They called and wrote, asking for a new card. I spent 30 min telling one rep I would not renew for any price. He finally relented and said he would cancel. I received six more calls advising that my contract had been renewed but I was late paying. I spoke with a woman this morning for 30 min, who advise the first guy a month ago noted that our call had been disconnected. No note about cancelation. She made multiple offers of discounts, but I declined. She then said I owed $13 for the partial renewal and asked for my credit card. I refused. She asked if I was refusing to pay my bill. I responded that I would never give money to liars and thieves, and if she did not cancel now, I would sue SXM for fraud. She finally agreed to cancel and would send me an email with the details. It’s been an hour. No email…

Well, I purchased a new vehicle with the standard 1 year free subscription, and it this is not my first experience with them, but we have always let the free trial expire, and have never given them a CC number. What I do really enjoy, very much, is the classical and jazz offerings, which I cannot find anywhere on FM in our rural area in Canada. Yes, now and then, CBC has a few tunes or programs, but I never am near a radio when they are on, and the offerings are typicaly obscure and few.

So, thanks to all of you wonderful folks, who have shared your horrid experiences with them, I will be taking the prepaid, pre-set expiry date CC route. Nice touch. We have call blocking so they can call till they are blue in the face.

…and another tick in the “it suks ” box…because we live in Canada, and luckily in southern Canada, and of course the satellites are parked over the equator in the geo-sync belt, we get dropped signals with every dip in the road, every hill or every forest we pass. Sadly my addiction to Jazz, classical, and sadly HLN and BBC news, has me hooked…for now. I also stream via bluetooth all my rock, r&b, and classic rock music, so that is taken care of, and the sound is better even if it is only mp3…yes, I have bone to pick with Apple (no pun intended) with the whole pay-to-update-your-entire-library-which-you-already-paid for, with mp4…that is a whole other story. I respect musicians too much to “sample” or bittorent for “free”.

I just called XM Canada to cancel my service being charged at $58.52/quarter. They immediately offered a $28.26 credit to be applied to by CC with 2 days and then 3 additional renewals at the reduced rate of $30.39 per quarter, ‘”cancel-able” anytime’. At ~$10/mo., if they follow through, I can live with the service. I’ll let you know if they do or if I just started an XM cancellation nightmare.

Read Zac’s post and all the good comments. I have two vehicles and both Sirius terms are expiring. However my credit card was changed, Sirius was not informed, and they are now on the email warpath threatening me with termination and fees blah blah blah. Thinking this would be a good approach:

1. Let the subscriptions expire, get unplugged and then offer to renew for one of their discounted reactivation deals.

2. Pay for the deal with either a pre-paid credit card or a Sirius gift card. In this way I am only exposed for the amount on the pre-paid card.

A lot of the abuse seems to stem from the fact that Sirius treats peoples credit card accounts like a bowl of fresh popcorn.

I don’t know where the $4 or $6 a month deals exist. All of the scam letters I get from Sirius to activate have the 20% royalty surcharge attached to them, which of course is not disclosed anywhere in the flyer except as ‘additional fees’. So their $25 for 6 months or $80 for a year, really is more like over $6 or $8 a month when taxes and fees are added in. If you were fool enough to pay the advertised subscription rate of $19/month its more like $22/month when the fees and taxes are added in. Goodbye Sirius! I just wish there was a way to get Sirius taken off the menu’s and tabs on the auto’s computer screens thru some sort of configuration option. It’s a half hour programming job for the auto manufacturer’s to do that and would remove the clutter of a service one doesn’t use.

I tried Sirius/XM for several months after renting a car that featured it. I liked that it seemed to have a very eclectic variety of music and talk programs. The pricing was very non-competitive though and as mobile data networks improve, I wonder if there is a future market for this very limited and proprietary technology. When I had it the sound quality was like that of a telephone.

What a great site. I wish I had read this 9 years ago. I initially subscribed to Sirius in anticipation of the Stern move. What a joke. Despite his constant harangue against terrestrial radio, all Stern did was to move his show to a forum on which he and his minions can and do curse. Otherwise, it was the same show–including the commercials (which Stern said would disappear on satellite). Well–I guess he needs to fund his retirement somehow. Anyway, I got over Stern and began listening to some of the music channels and to news radio. The music channels regurgitate the same music day after day while the news is a repeat over the course of a six hour cycle. So much for that. In any event, the breaking point for me occurred three days ago when I tried to access my local NFL broadcast (the FM reception sucks in my home). Lo and behold when I tried to access the NFL broadcasts, the radio messaged that the channels were inoperative. Now I know that as recently as the 2013 season, I was able to access all NFL broadcasts (either the home or away station) through my radio. So I made the mistake of calling Sirius to find out what the hell was going on. The woman who took my call placed me on hold at least three times (ostensibly to speak with a “supervisor”) and her final answer was that the NFL broadcasts were not available on the radio (but only through the internet). I strongly contested this as I was listening to the NFL broadcasts as recently as last January. After sparring with her (including asking when my subscription was changed without my knowledge and letting her know that Sirius is certainly efficient when it comes to billing) I decided I have had enough. I am currently seeking alternative means to listen on a desk-top radio like device (I prefer not to have my computer running all day solely to listen to broadcast content but do like some stations that may be picked up through the internet) so any suggestions would be welcome. In the meantime, thank you for the content on this page as I will be contacting the NY AGs office regarding Sirius’s deceptive practices.

I bought a new car yesterday with 3 months of SiriusXM preview free. I decided to do a little exploring to make sure that they were a company I wanted to do business with. According to everything I have read, they are definitely NOT. I will avoid Sirius like the plague. I only wish I could recode the SAT button on the tech display to do something else. Sad really, as I would have been willing to pay $5/month to a reputable company for this service.

Last year, my “two-year prepaid” subscription ended….or did it? No! I was billed $384.00 “automatically.” I had to call. Forty minutes of total nonsense, but I did make the error of agreeing to one more year. Read that, “One Year” and that’s the end.

In February of this year, I began reducing all of those pesky “$4.50/month” subscriptions, and when I was done, I eliminated $800 of expenses over a year. But I worried about Sat Radio. I didn’t trust them. So I called, and explained I did NOT want auto-renewal, and I was told simply, “Oh, Sir, just remove your credit card information, and it will be shut off until you pay by mail or?” So I did that. No credit card, no renewal, Right?

Wrong! I noticed the sat radio was still functional, so I called back in August. I have a record of that “long call” where I was told “Sir, it will shut off at the end of your subscription, and she hung up. Bang.

I was on vacation, and when I returned, I found a bill in my mail. The “auto renewal” was in effect, and they planned to bill me, and they tell you that on the back of the bill. DUH? How can that be legal. So I called again, and got the “Why are you ending your “pleasant experience with XM radio? ” “Because I don’t want it!” That doesn’t fly with these people. More and more offensive offers. Now they bill me $10.00 because they kept it “available.” I wasn’t using it, but they decided they knew better than the customer, and would not turn it off unless you call, and they greet the opportunity to indulge you in their unconscionable marketing madness.

I encourage a class action suit. There should have been one years ago, as I have seen these posts dating to 2012. The same garbage you have to endure when you cancel Comcast, is the offensive posturing of Serius. For the first time in my life, I have to admit there should be “another law!” Let’s get this company straight, or out of business.

I had a similar experience. I re-opted for 5 months but expressed CLEARLY, that I did not want to continue service after the time period and did NOT want an auto-renewal. I as ASSURED I would be auto-renewed. And yet, I start getting past due bills after the time 5 months. I called customer service who was happy to cancel my radio service (it was already shut off) but would not waive the fee stating that I owed them money. It took me 2 managers before I could get the fee removed. And they acted like they were doing me a huge favor. BAIT AND SWITCH!!

For those who “cancel” via credit card expiration, don’t get your hopes up. My credit card on file expired with them one month prior to getting charged for another 6 months of service. Granted, the number stayed the same, but the expiry date changed but that alone does not appear to be enough. I’m a little disappointed in myself in that I thought the fee was a yearly charge (for which I was already considering canceling). Imagine my surprise when I realized this was a 6-month fee! Making the call now…

Thanks Folks! I had my credit card out and my device info and was ready to sign up for the $15.99 plan today (2014-10-04). I think I will just buy a 64GB USB stick and load all my music onto that and hit random on my new car device playlist and enjoy commercial free spontaneous music that I know I will enjoy. Still need to solve the puzzle though on how to find emerging artists and music. Oh well, nothing is ever optimal. Thanks Once again and Sirrius, seriously, clean up your act and newbies like me will not be walking away never ever to use your service. AMEN.

I had similar experiences quitting Sirius XM – kept receiving bargain offers. However, I feel there is something prinicipally wrong with paying for a service that offers such an awful quaity of broadcast, while they could really cut the number of music channels to 15-20, and send them with a good bitrate. They can keep the spoken radio & the sports as they are, because it does not matter, but to broadcast opera with telephone quality? That was done in Europe in XIX century. I wrote a letter to Sirius asking to remove all my personal details from their databases, and finally they did. I will happily resume the service and pay them even $50 per month if they start broadcasting at 320 kbps, or better, in loseless formats (I can pay $25 for 192 kbps).

We are the customers, we should be demanding what we want. If they do not want to provide it, there are many other options to listen to quality sound in your car.

Guys, there is no cancel account, the best you can do is have them bump your service end date up, so the system does not bill your card, then of course you will get call after call and email after email. you will also not be able to get the free service in feb, as the channels load, but them at the end checks your service end date 🙁

I was just about to buy a SiriusXM tuner for my car and sign up for service when I decided to do a little research. Thankfully I found this sight and a few others that set me straight. I’ve had SiriusXM in some rental cars and liked some of their content. But I didn’t like it enough to get sucked into the kind of B.S. that people are reporting. I recently had a similar experience with Dish. And I was all but signed up when I read their Terms and Conditions, which made me decide to do some more investigating. Even though I’d enjoy a lot of the content that companies like SiriusXM and Dish provide, I refuse to do business with them based on principle. And hopefully enough people will do the same, and ultimately run these companies out of business. Eventually, I hope they’re replaced by organizations who realize that you can’t screw your customers and expect them to keep coming back for more. In the meantime, I am either enjoying some quiet time or finding ways to stream media for listening when I’m in places that I don’t have adequate coverage by terrestrial stations.

Here’s my SIRIUS story. Bought a certified used car. It came with a “trial period” of Sirius for 90 days. Within a week they start e-mailing me and calling me to sign up. I said I haven’t even had a chance to try it to find out if I like it. Give me my trial period. They keep calling and e-mailing me, sending me stuff in the mail, etc. So I said no, I’m not subscribing until I have tried it for the 90 days. They cut off my trial period! Yep, shut it down after less than 30 days, because I wouldn’t agree to subscribe immediately. That’s fine with me, it’s in a car I only drive once every couple of weeks, but I thought what a crappy company.

I let my subscription end, they wanted $120 for 6 months, I paid $150 for a year six years ago. They keep sending me bills and call me every few days. Received a 6 month renewal for $25 in the mail but at the website, it says “technical difficulties” and to call someone. I don’t want to speak to anyone. It also has a Chat that won’t open.

Went to the main “Live Chat” and they want your phone number. Why if it an online chat?

Sirius XM sucks!! I have had it several times and cancelled it because of the auto renew. I had signed up for a special 6 months for $25, and on 3/21/15 the auto renew kicked in. I had $90 bucks in the bank and those assholes took out $108 and overdrew my account. I had to work that day and had no money, no food, and no drink. I was livid!!!!! I called them and cussed them out, told them to put my money back in the he effing bank and cancelled my subscription, the dumbass rep. knew I was livid and still insisted on trying to give me a deal of $89 a year. I thought I was gonna have a stroke I was so mad. Stupid fuckers, I hope they do go out of business and they will never have my business again!!!

I have never been as frustrated with a company’s customer as I have been with Sirius/XM.

I started out in 2004 as an XM listener and liked it and the customer service was decent (I don’t believe I ever spoke to anyone outside of CONUS) and problems, when they happened, were quickly resolved with competent people.

While I’ve found their weather and traffic services useful and the music/info channels welcome their service is simply not worth the cost. Couple that with the idiocy of their customer service reps and it’s just not worth it…it’s time for all of us to “just say NO!”

I started with XM in 2005 and had a great experience. Then the merger rumors hit and I began getting surveys from XM about my service. One thing that was said during all the pre-merger conversations was that “if” the merger happened, rates would not go up and level of service would not decrease. HAHAHAHAHA. Was I a sucker for believing that! With my XM subscription, internet listening was included. Once the merger happened, that was taken away and now it is an extra charge. I have XM in my car now; re-activated it in July after getting one of those 5 months for $20 offers in the mail. I’ll be calling to cancel and then seeing how much I can get them to drop the price to keep me. My best friend is paying about $5 a month for it. If I can get that, I’ll be happy. I might give them a little extra if they’ll give me back my streaming.

Today I finally said no to Sirius XM. In reading all the comments I see that I’m not the only one who thinks the service, customer service and their shady practices are some of the worst I’ve ever dealt with. Received and invoice yesterday for a auto renewal that had started seven day prior. Invoice charged $2 for invoice fee – because I would not give them access to my credit card for auto renewal. Called today to cancel and of course the $46 for 3 months usage immediately went to $99 for 12 months or $25 for 5. Just wanted to cancel so after 12 minutes of trying to get this across was told my final bill was $5+. Usage for the week before they even mailed the invoice out. After another 10 minutes of holding finally was told the balance was 0 and my service was cancelled. Thank goodness. Do yourself a favor DON’T EVERY USE SIRIUS.

This is a WEIRD one. I imagine that this happens all the time but people don’t know it – they just get erroneously billed and cannot figure out why. When you call SiriusXM for any reason they add your caller-ID phone number to their DB. Thus they had the phone number of my employer – where over a thousand people work. If somebody fails to pay their bill then they bill somebody else at the same number. Another employee here forgot to update her credit card details when she got a new American Express card – so they took it from my bank account. Without my permission.

Just because we had called from the same phone number in the past they withdrew the money from my checking account to pay my co-workers quarterly bill! This is a violation of privacy as well as an unethical (and probably illegal) billing practice. I found this out when I called SiriusXM to see why they took out this big amount. They not only told me the personal information of the person that actually owed the bill (my co-worker) but how much she was to pay and how often she got billed.

I asked if she (the SiriusXM rep) was concerned about privacy issues in revealing that information to me and she replied, “no”. Worse yet, when I told her that I know the girl who really owed the bill she (the SiriusXM rep) asked me if I would accept the terms of license for her. (for my co-worker!)

To summarize: If SiriusXM cannot get the money from your co-worker then they’ll just withdraw it from your account, because you have both called SiriusXM from the same phone number in the past. Scary, isn’t it?

just say no to Sirius XM – we’re getting ready to look at a new car, and we will make sure there is no satellite radio installed – if more ex-satellite users just say ‘no,’ perhap the company will start to change its tune? nope, i doubt it… fortunately, i was able to cancel my account in late 2012 with no problem – if you have to have it, i think a prepaid card is the way to go – this funny business and games with your credit card is intolerable!

Sirius just updated their android application and broke the ‘on demand’ features that let me bypass expensive data costs by downloading radio to listen at my leisure. On top of the coding bugs that interrupts downloads needlessly, or simply loses them altogether, the new menus are horrifying and still does not incorporate easy to use features like a useful rewind button, or fast forward etc… things we’ve been used to with media players for some time. On top of the expense of the monthly, now I have to pay for the data again? meh… I can use the android media player and go back to podcasts for all the effort and none of the cost.

I just had a conversation from hell with the Sirius customer service rep. She kept asking why I wanted to cancel over and over. I said because I don’t want it, I don’t use it, please just cancel. Cancel. Cancel it please. Please… I finally said This is the reason! Because your company is over agressive, and you won’t even let me cancel. I was very polite. When she read the confirmation numbers finally, after me basically begging her to just cancel the account, she was saying them very fast so I couldn’t write them down, and she got snippy when I asked her to repeat them slowly. Then I said, is there anything else that I need to do? Then silence. She had hung up on me!!!!! I will never never never ever sign up with Sirius ever again. To say that they suck is too mild. I have never hated a company so much. To see there is a class action against them is not the least bit surprising. And I have to wait five days for a confirmation. They probably will not do it. This is a bad company. Horrible. The worst experience I have ever had with any company!

[…] had signed, so my last full-time listening days were on terrestrial radio. And, since I think the SiriusXM merger has led to a lesser product than promised, I refuse to pay extra so I can listen to him during my […]

Sirius was fined $4 million for shady dealings with customers in late 2014, But beware ….. they have not changed their ways. $4 million if just peanuts compared to what they get from fooling their customers into expensive extensions of service.

We just cancelled our Sirius Subscription. It only took about 40 minutes to argue with some rude (hard to understand) lady. She gave us another bait and switch crap offer, and then transferred us to some guy who actually tried to guilt trip us into continuing our service with their crap products.
Bottom line, Pandora is the way to go, it’s actually ad free. Sirius is full of ads, just “in house ads” so it’s just as bad as the radio…which is free.
Now that 20 bucks a month we are saving can go to something new for the farm.

Based on the sheer volume of comments this post has received, I think it’s clear to both of us that the BS is coming from Sirius XM’s side. Just look at the post below… it took them 40 minutes to cancel.

There is a documented history of wrongdoing by this company, and this page is just a part of that documentation.

That said, your experience may have been mercifully atypical. Or better yet, maybe you have some special tip to share on how you managed to get such fantastic service when others have reported such nightmares?

I like how everyone here is ganging up on a company that provides a service that you don’t have to have to live. Don’t like it? Simple… CANCEL IT. I work for the company in question here and have done so for some time now. They have made changes to correct the wrongs of the past. Now there is a pop up (has been for over 1 to 2 years now) that we MUST read OR we receive a write up or get FIRED!!!. In it the statement CLEARLY states “Your service WILL automatically renew on X Month X , XXXX. Your renewal WILL bill EVERY X months at THEN current rates for an est. total charge of XX.XX, which includes fees and taxes. You may cancel at ANYTIME by calling us at (insert number here).” Also for those that THINK 10.99 to 19.99 a month is “Too expensive for radio” Remember…. It has Coast to Coast coverage. There are thing you will NEVER find on radio on SXM. Most vehicles come with it. Also if you are in a financial bind we offer the promotions to HELP you… not to keep you with something you hate. Most of the calls I get are the people that are down on their luck and enjoy the service. Also the only thing I can see about this article that is misleading the most (even though written in 2013). The company did NOT merge do to financial struggle. Just an FYI. Also. For the people that BITCH about “auto renewal”… here is an FYI… Cable Subs auto renew, Sat TV auto renews, internet subs AUTO RENEW. NONE OF WHICH ARE NO ESSENTIAL. So in short… pull up your stockings tighten your frilly thong and STOP BEING A WHINE BABY.

I pay too much for satellite radio on 2 devices and it is so convenient. However, I am thoroughly upset the C-Span can only be accessed through streaming now. In addition, the billing method seems predatory.

Just cancelled thanks for nothing Sirius xm they took the best channel off you can not get it WHY? it was excape 69 they moved it to 751 there is no channel 751 on my radio I hope you go the way of the 8 track can’t happen soon enough. have a good day.

I too have been a long time subscriber to siriusxm but lately I have been driving for longer periods of time and noticed the annoying commentary by the so called djs is not only more often between songs but it is often recorded and replayed word for word all day! Case in point : Madison on alt rock channel 36. I subscribed way back when so I wouldn’t have to listen to BS on the radio. 5 years later I’m just paying for BS. So I recieved a notice from sirius xm canada to update my account or I would be disconnected. being a good long time customer who always paid full price I updated within 2 or 3 mins. no problem. After receiving my new credit card info he asked me if there was anything else I needed. I said yes ; I would like to register a complaint. Well that took a much longer time on hold compared to the previous take my money option. I politely tried to explain to the lady that their were way too many ads and talk. secondly I didn’t understand why I should be paying $150.oo a year for 150 plus channels when I only listen to a few. As much as people hate cable tv providers ; at least they allow you to pick bundles of channels and areas of interests. The conversation went on painfully for about half an hour and when she finally suggested I file one of their online surveys I had enough!!. It was clear they are trained to just slowly wear you down and punish you for calling.As my voice increased in volume and I threatened to cancel she offered both of my subscriptions to me for a reduced rate of 99$ per year , down from just below $200.00. but only for the next year. We will see how it goes but I have a funny feeling I will be cancelling. Regarding the Credit card issues, everyone should be aware that Visa only requires a call from the customer to report an unauthorized charge and they never doubt the customer in my experience. they are very prompt to use their clout to keep you as a cardholder and remove any charges from that busines. even past ones if you failed to notice them in time. just tell them it was never authorized. which is what I plan to do if XM charges me past the agreed cancellation date. backing up the cancellation notice with email is also advisable so you will have a record before you have to notify visa.

They have become crap just like all other things when the,”Guru” takes control. Pis poor programs, play list irritating commercials, especially ZEPPA! I’d like to send that bastard to hell. ! they lost mt business. I hope they go out of business.

This is why virtual credit cards are great. I got bitten by the exact same bait-and-switch behavior: I signed in for a promo rate and ON THE DAY I called to renew, they had already tacked $201 on my credit card! Screw that! I had to wait 30 minutes on the line to speak to a rep. I’d have cancelled it in a hearbeat, but wife started moaning. I got back into one of the promo rates and changed my credit card number to a virtual number. In this case, I control the balance and expiration dates, so I gave them a number that expires a month from now! They have proven irresponsible in using my information (and while I understand the auto-information was available on their page, they never dropped me an email before the auto-renewal happened, even though I’m opted in to auto-renewal messages.)

What a total rip off, and it’s telling that most cars come stock with Sirius, but digital radio is usually a “premium feature”. My two biggest beefs with satellite radio though, are the ATROCIOUS audio quality and the constant barrage of commercials. Any commercials at all on a service that already costs hundreds of dollars per year should be unacceptable to any reasonable person.

Had XM radio prior to the Sirius take over and it was great. Great variety of music with no commercials or DJs interrupting my drive. Then came SiriusXM and it all turned to crap. I cannot bring myself to pay for AM radio just to listen to top 40 with someone telling me what their dog had for breakfast…..I don’t care!!! I have a much better selection on my iPod. I have tuned in when Sirius offers the service for free, just to see what they have to offer. It just keeps getting worse and I can’t stand to listen to it even though it is free

Listening to Sirius XM for just music probably does not make sense. Listening to it because you can tune in to every MLB, NFL, NHL, name your favorite team and/or sport – game; live feeds of CNN, Fox; NPR, PRX, POTUS, Sirius XM NFL Radio; etc. etc. – does make sense – and makes even more sense when you are talking about listening in your vehicle for a 6-10 hours/week. There is no other service that provides this. So, please don’t compare it to Spotify, or Rhapsody, or iHeart Radio.

Sirius just took the bluegrass station off and replaced it with Hanukkah. I called and finally talked to a live person and asked her what was happening and was told it was only for 24 hours. Well 25 hours later and it still was Hanukkah. I called back and was told it was until the 16th of Dec. I was offered a $5. 03 rebate and took it but I do not understand why they would take the only bluegrass witch is Christian based music off and replace it with Hanukkah. I filled out a survey and I am supposed to get a phone call today from another rep. I guess we will see how that goes. It seems like it is a slap to Christianity. Merry Christmas. Oops I may not be able to say that.

They were great in the early days. “No Commercials.” They said. The D.J.’s were just as bad. Talk, talk, talk. Like I paid to hear that crap. The ’70’s Station had the nerve to play the edited versions, and like the D.J.’s in the actual 70’s, they’d talk, talk, talk right at the ending or end of the song-garbage! I dropped them like a hot potato.

Now I see I’m not the only one. I have a lifetime subscription for about 10 years. I am always complaining that they play the same music all the time and especially the DJ’s don’t shut up. I’m paying for a service, a music service, I want to hear music not Meg Griffin talk about being back stage with some artist. Do that on free radio. They should just play music and a large verity not the same set list every day.
Now to the topic of today. like I said I have a lifetime subscription and my radio just died. I called and one of their reps suggested the Onyx Plus. Looked like a nice radio so I went out and bought it as a replacement. So when I called to activate the radio I am told it is an XM radio and not a Sirius radio. Stupid me thinking they are now one company. This radio does not get Howard Stern. But for an extra $130 they can add Howard. So we’re talking $80 for the radio, $75 for a subscription transfer and $130 for an upgrade to get the Sirius premium package, because this is a XM radio and XM does not carry Howard. I told them to go scratch and I am cancelling my other 3 subscription as well. It all come down to corporate greed. There is no such thing as customer service anymore. You want service, they want more money.

April 9, 2012 at 1:52 amYa I know exactly how i type and i dont give a shit if i did i would type cotlrcrey but i dont care and as for siriusxm being doomed no its not because there is a bunch of idiotic people in this world that still keeps using their services after all the complaints haha and ur right i do keep saying things in their favor considering i previously worked for them and was simply stating their terms and conditions which i stated in all the previous paragraphs if you would go back and read them but i really dont care about that company anymore soooo done with them the reason they are going into the ground is they would rather hire criminals and people overseas to fuck up everyones account and hang up on people and transfer them to departments customers dont even need to go to than to hire or even appreciate the people that work hard to satisfy the customers such as myself. I always tried to make our customers happy but once the other employees got to their accounts there was nothing i could really do with how pissed off people get and i am merely stating all of this because siriusxm ideas are really good yes you can get music on pandora and all those other stupid radio thingys but you have to search for the song you want and you cant always remember the names of the songs. All the ideas siriusxm has are very good ideas for todays society if they just hire people in the u.s. the company would be 90 percent better off. If you are really taking the time out to talk shit about my typing by the way go get a fucken life the internet is one place you can type your feelings and be free i am not looking to please anybody on here nor do i care if you cant understand english if you have enough common sense you will still be able to read this Reply

I just want people to know I just won a battle with Sirius. After fighting with their outsourced call center I found the corporate solution center.

Sirius billed me for 5 years biannually. I never agree to recurring payments and somehow missed them billing for 5 whole years. I wasn’t even listening to the radio.

I first wrote the better business bureau advising Sirius had confirmed they have no copy of a verbal or written contract. I demanded reimbursement in full. They offered to reimburse once more of the biannual payments.

I declined, sent in a letter of demand to their legal department. After multiple back and forths on the bbb site Sirius offered to reimburse me half of what I paid the past 5 years. I declined. It was hard to resist but I knew if they were offering that much they knew my threat of court and the fact I’d issued a letter of demand would end up costing them more to fight.

Fight them, don’t give in. Ask for full reimbursement. If they cannot prove you signed or verbally agreed to recurring payments write the bbb, send a letter of demand to the legal department and don’t accept a penny less than full reimbursement. If they can’t provide a copy of the contract and you take them to court they’ll have to pay for your lost wages and their attorney.

Thanks for the informative blog. We got called today by XM Radio (at 7:15 a.m. on a Sunday morning) because our credit card number had changed and they couldn’t charge our card… I asked why we were being charged? They said we were on a quarterly plan. That wasn’t correct. We got a 4 month trial with our 2 new cars (purchased on the same day) and I paid for 1 year at a special price for both of our new cars. Then I was charged in December – so that would be for an additional year, correct? I was told no, that was just for a quarter. I was told this by 3 different reps because each time I started to question what the price would be for a year and that I didn’t like the pricing, they hung up on me. The fourth time (I called them back after the initial call) I was told I had to be transferred to the cancellation department. I was put on hold for 34 minutes and finally hung up. I mean my card has expired … so why the need to speak to anyone else?

Nonetheless, I called back just to find out how much more time we had on our plan before the service would stop. I didn’t mention canceling – I explained I got a call to update my card but before I did so, could I please be told what I was charged in December and for how much coverage? I was told the amount that was charged .. and it was at a special promotional rate for 6 months and our service was paid for until June 2nd. I asked, you mean it doesn’t expire in March as I was told by another rep? I was assured, no, we are paid through June 2nd. So I said “wow, I was told something completely different. So why do you need my credit card info in March if we don’t expire until June? What if I don’t want to continue the service? I don’t need to provide any further information, right?” I couldn’t get the rep to answer that question – he kept asking for a card because we were due for renewal and they couldn’t get the charges to go through. I again tried to confirm – we’re paid for through June, correct? At that point he hung up on me.

Lucky for me, my card was cancelled after a fraudulent charged appeared on it 2 months ago. So they don’t have a card number to charge.

To make sure they understand I’m canceling I’m going to send them an email and a snail mail letter. I don’t care if the service continues until June or not. We like our local sports radio and we have music on our iPhones we can listen to.

XM/Sirius operates in a very murky way. We’ve never received any notice of renewal and ever notice that they don’t put anything in writing? They won’t send a confirmation of your billing or your subscription term. I’ve asked. They say they “don’t do that.” Bad answer. Bad business practices.